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8 reasons we're loving miso right now (these fritters are just one of them)

Mar 05, 2019

Inspired by a mission to Mars, the MasterChef host and delicious. senior editor unveils a planet’s worth of suggestions to make the most of the Japanese seasoning.

In November last year, NASA’s InSight lander touched down on Mars. Its mission: to drill into the planet’s surface to progress geological science. But could there be more to it than this?

Could it be NASA is searching for any truth to the rumour that, when Mars, in July 2018, passed closer to earth than it had done at any point in the previous decade, keen astronomers noticed that the Red Planet bore a remarkable similarity to a very large ball of red miso paste? And could this be why Japan launched a failed Mars mission in 1998? So many questions, but only one that really matters: if InSight confirms that Mars is made of miso, what will we do with all that miso paste? I have some thoughts:

Broths and ramenObviously, that miso can be used, along with vegetable, chicken or pork stock, soy, mirin, sake and a splash of rice wine vinegar or a handful of bonito flakes to add flavour to other Japanese-inspired broths and ramens. Here, everything from fresh silky tofu, udon or soba noodles can be thrown in, and topped with Asian greens, shredded spring onions or even slices of five-spiced crispy pork belly and shredded nori. We’ll find inspiration for bowls of slurpy goodness like these at delicious.com.au.

Miso glazeNobu dehydrates miso into thin sheets to make savoury flakes to sprinkle on vegetables and salad, but his use of a sumiso glaze on his famous black cod dish is perhaps of more interest to most of us. A sumiso glaze is an artful combination of 150g white miso paste sweetened with a mix of 50ml mirin, 50ml cooking sake, 10ml freshly squeezed ginger juice and 40ml rice wine vinegar, with 75g caster sugar dissolved into it. Try it on pork fillet, salmon, kingfish or ocean trout.

Miso marinadeMix miso with grated garlic and ginger. Add maple syrup or honey to sweeten. Smear all over whatever you want to marinade – pork chops, chicken thighs or slices of sweet potato, for instance.

Miso for dressingsMake a miso mayonnaise. Stir miso into your favourite mayo. or even make one of my stick-blender instant mayos. Place 2 tbs miso, 1 tbs rice wine vinegar, a whole egg, 300ml grapeseed oil and 50ml sesame oil in the blender cup (carefully, so the egg yolk doesn’t break). Place the blades of the stick blender over the yolk and blend until you see ribbons of beige coming out from around the blender head. Pull the blender up through the oil, bouncing it slightly to incorporate the oil and make the mayo. This mayo is delicious with pretty much everything, but especially on a potato salad. Add quartered hard-boiled eggs with crispy bacon, smoked trout or smoked salmon for protein. Add sliced spring onions for greenery. Alternatively, try a simple miso vinaigrette for vegetables, salads or a vegan brown rice bowl topped with tanned tofu, edamame, grilled broccolini and pickled ginger. Simply shake up miso paste with rice wine vinegar, lemon juice, a little mustard powder and olive oil. Sweeten with honey, mirin or sugar.

Miso pork katsuIn Nagoya, Japan, they dress their crumbed pork fillet katsu with a miso sauce rather than a tongkatsu sauce. This is a simple mixture of dashi, sugar and mirin, cooked off with the dark local miso. Serve with finely shredded white drumhead cabbage, either in a sandwich or donburi style (on rice). You can increase the complexity of the mirin sauce by adding grated ginger, garlic and a splash of rice wine vinegar. This sauce works just as well with crumbed chicken.

Miso chocolate browniesAdd 2 tbs miso to your brownie mix when you melt the chocolate and the butter together. Its saltiness will intensify the chocolate in much the same way that adding salt does.

Miso butterscotchSpiking caramels with fish sauce or vinegar is a great way to take them to a very different place, but miso makes even better sense in a butterscotch sauce. After making the caramel, carefully, stir in the butter and cream, then whisk in some miso. Serve on vanilla ice cream with crushed sesame snaps, or add a splash of rice wine vinegar and serve with your favourite sticky date pudding. You could even hit your sticky date with a little powdered ginger and replace any nuts with sesame and hemp seeds to take it part of the way to Tokyo.

Miso butterBlend 80g miso paste with 100g toasted blanched almonds and 80g softened unsalted butter. Dissolve 2 tbs caster sugar with 2 tbs warmed wine vinegar and add to the miso butter bit by bit until it balances out the saltiness a little. Smear this on corn on the cob or brussels sprouts before (or after) grilling, slather under the skin of chicken for roasting, or use as a dressing for steamed beans, grilled steak or steamed baby potatoes. Or just use it to sandwich my corn cakes recipe.

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